Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 130255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
But still, I felt like a kid on their first day of school.
I didn’t want to go in there, and if I did, I kind of wanted someone to hold my hand.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, beating down the insecurity that was rising within me. It didn’t matter how many of these I did—I would never truly enjoy them because I was far more introverted than extroverted.
That’s why I had a job where I didn’t really have to speak to people.
Okay.
I was knocking.
I was doing this.
I reached out and rapped my knuckles against the door before I chickened out. I opened my eyes just before the door was pulled open by Max himself.
He pointed to the brass door knocker. “Didn’t feel like using that?”
“Didn’t feel like letting the butler answer the door?” I shot back.
His lips tugged to one side. “He’s probably eating dinner with his wife.”
“Good for him.” I wrung my hands in front of me. “I’d rather be eating dinner with his wife, too.”
“You don’t know his wife.”
“I’d still prefer it.” I peered over his shoulder.
“She probably would, too.” His smirk turned into a small thing that could pass for a smile. “She loves your books.”
“Is there anyone in this place who doesn’t?” I pressed my hands against my stomach and blew out a heavy breath. “I didn’t mean that to sound the way it came out. Sorry. I don’t really like book clubs. They give me the heebie jeebies.”
Max raised his eyebrows. “So why did you say yes?”
“Your grandma strongarmed me into it, then she asked me nicely. And she brought cake. I like cake.” I was a weak, weak woman where cake was concerned. “So… that’s why.”
He pressed his lips into a thin line. “Mhmm. Come on. They’re in the kitchen.”
Oh.
That was a bummer.
His eyes twinkled with laughter. “Kidding. They’re in the library.”
“That was mean.” I followed him inside. “The library is the only thing that got me here in the first place.”
“I’m sure it was. Come on. I’ll show you the way.”
And thank God for that because this place was fucking huge. The ceilings were tall with ornate moulding where they met the walls, and the floor beneath me was a beautiful dark wood parquet. The doors were tall with thick frames that just looked old.
In fact, the whole house felt like it had a story to tell. I couldn’t explain it, but I could feel the weight of history weighing upon me as I walked the halls.
I was definitely going to have to explore the public section of the house.
“Here you go,” Max said, motioning to a door. “They’re in there waiting for you.”
I swallowed, looking at the door.
“You want me to start it off? Announce you?”
I looked at him.
“Or show you to the nearest toilet so that you can throw up?”
“That one,” I mumbled.
He chuckled. “You’ll be fine. If May starts, Grandma will choke her.”
Was he joking?
“Is that a joke?” I asked.
“Sadly, no.” He knocked his knuckle against the door before I could ask what the heck he meant by that and pushed the door open. “I have someone here for you, ladies.”
Welp, there was no backing out now.
Max pushed the door fully open to reveal me to the ladies in the library, and I’m not ashamed to say my first focus was the walls.
The bookshelves.
Floor. To. Ceiling. Shelves.
Rammed full of books.
Beast, Belle, eat your hearts out.
Old books. New books. Books that looked older than they probably were.
Romances and thrillers and mysteries and fantasies and—
“Ellie!” Esme got to her feet and held out her hands, stopping my happy perusal of the shelves that surrounded the room. “You’re here!”
I smiled, and I hoped that I looked a lot more confident than I felt. “Hi, Esme. Thank you for inviting me to drop by tonight.”
She approached me and wrapped me in a huge hug. “You’ll be fine,” she whispered in my ear, squeezing me tightly. “Take a deep breath.”
I did just that. “Thank you,” I whispered right back.
She patted my back and pulled away. “Come and sit with us, dear. We were just discussing the first meeting between Allegra and Benjamin.”
“Ah. A good place to start,” I said, following her over to the table.
May, who was dressed in a black dress with a bird print on the skirt, eyed me. “The beginning usually is.”
“For some people.” I smiled, sitting down. “The first scene I wrote of this book was one of the last ones, where Ben’s mum finds out where Allegra’s parents live and goes there to apologise to her. I always knew their relationship would build to that moment where she gave her the key to their house in Edinburgh.”
She scowled. “I found that particular scene to be quite unrealistic. Why would Stephanie have travelled all the way to Edinburgh from Portsmouth just to apologise to someone? It wasn’t in character for her at all.”